JPH0612288A - Information processing system and monitoring method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a monitor device which can monitor the monitor informa tion of plural processors on a network at real time by providing the receiving means, display means or display window of the monitor device at every monitor object. CONSTITUTION:A monitor device 2 is provided with important item receiving and collecting means 13 to receive monitor information transmitted from important item transmitting means 6-1-1 and 6-2-1 of processors 4-1 and 4-2 and monitored result receiving means 14-1 and 14-2 classified by monitor objects to receive the monitor information transmitted from self monitored result transmitting means 7-1-1 and 7-2-1. Further, this device is provided with an important item display means 12 to output and display the monitor information collected by the important item receiving and collecting means on a display device 1, and monitored result display means 15-1 and 15-2 classified by monitor objects for displaying the monitor information received by the monitored result receiving means by monitor objects onto the display device 1. Thus, the monitor information of plural processors can be monitored at real time without being delayed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing system and a monitoring method thereof, and more particularly to an information processing system and a monitoring method thereof suitable when a plurality of processing devices are connected on a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When operating an information processing system, it is extremely important to monitor each processing device constituting the system. In that case, as an efficient monitoring method, there have been conventionally known JP-A 3-144834 and JP-A 3-25.
The centralized monitoring method described in Japanese Patent No. 7639 is known. In addition, examples of the display format at that time include the display formats described in JP-A-3-257639 and JP-A-2-2129471.

In such a monitoring method, while there are a plurality of means for transmitting the monitoring information, but there is only one means for receiving the information, the receiving means is often occupied by the receiving means for receiving the monitoring information from one monitoring target. Therefore, reception delay or omission of reception of monitoring information from other monitoring targets may occur.

[0004]

In the conventional monitoring method,
Since the monitoring information transmitted from multiple transmitting means is received by one receiving means, reception delay occurs and real-time monitoring cannot be performed in an accurate sense. Had to limit the length of.

Further, the greatest feature of the distributed system using the network is that when the business is expanded or the capacity of the processing device is overloaded, the expansion can be easily performed by adding the processing device. In nature. Therefore, when the geographical range of the network is expanded or the number of processing devices is increased,
The monitoring function must also be flexible. However, in the conventional monitoring method, in order to realize the monitoring function,
The address of the monitoring device must be stored in advance in the processing device to be monitored. Therefore, the monitoring range must be reviewed and the monitoring device registration table of the processing device must be updated every time the system is changed.

A further problem is improvement in reliability. As a method of improving the reliability of the monitoring device, a method similar to that of the multi-computer has been conventionally used. However, in this case, because of the large dependency between the master and slave devices,
There is a problem that it is difficult to add or change.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system for monitoring in real time without limiting the length of monitoring information, a monitoring method therefor, and a monitoring device. That is,
At the time of monitoring, even if the amount of information increases, important information is not overlooked, the monitoring information is classified, and important information is displayed separately according to the degree of importance.
Achieve more efficient monitoring.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for starting monitoring information transmitting / receiving means, and to realize a method for starting monitoring linked to the start-up of a processing device and a monitoring device.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system capable of flexibly following a system configuration change by using a method in which a monitoring device and a processing device start monitoring without storing addresses in each other. A monitoring method and a monitoring device are provided.

[0010]

The present invention provides a monitoring device,
An information processing system for monitoring in real time without limiting the length of monitoring information by providing a means for receiving monitoring results (monitoring information) from a plurality of processing devices independently for each processing device, and its monitoring method And a monitoring device. In the information processing system, each processing device on the network has a monitoring unit that monitors itself and acquires monitoring information, and a transmission unit that transmits the monitoring information to the monitoring device. The monitoring information transmitted from each of the plurality of processing devices is received by the monitoring device. The monitoring device has a receiving means therefor and a display means for outputting it for display on a display device. Other features of the present invention for achieving the above object are as follows.

First, the monitoring information receiving means, the display means, or the display window of the monitoring device is provided for each monitoring target processing device. As a result, even if a large amount of monitoring information is received from a plurality of processing devices at the same time, reception delay does not occur.

Secondly, in addition to the above, the processing device is provided with transmission means dedicated to important items, and the monitoring device is provided with reception means and window (also referred to as Window) dedicated to important items. With this, from all the monitoring information of all monitoring targets, important monitoring information that leads to system down such as OS (also called operating system) failure or hardware failure is selected,
Display on one screen. By consolidating on one screen,
It is possible to perform more efficient monitoring as compared with the case of displaying in processing unit units.

Thirdly, the processing device is provided with a transmission start instruction means, and the monitoring device is provided with a monitoring request means. As a result of the mutual communication between them, the transmission start and the reception start of the transmission means and the reception means are started. By issuing an instruction, monitoring is started without depending on the startup order of the processing device and the monitoring device.

Fourthly, as the monitoring device, a device which is removable online without affecting the system is adopted.

Fifth, by providing the monitoring information transmitting means of the processing device for each monitoring device, the transmission of the monitoring information to a plurality of monitoring devices is realized.

Sixth, a monitoring target registration table for storing the monitoring target processing device and means for rewriting the monitoring target registration table are newly added to the above monitoring device. Thus, a plurality of monitoring devices can be installed and the monitoring range can be shared and monitored.

Seventh, the monitoring device is provided with a self-monitoring means and a monitoring result transmitting means, as in the processing device, so that a plurality of monitoring devices installed on the network mutually monitor. When the monitoring device detects a failure of another monitoring device as a result of the mutual monitoring, the monitoring device promptly rewrites the monitoring target registration table and takes over the monitoring range of the failure monitoring device.

Eighthly, the monitoring function is turned ON / OFF as necessary by providing the monitoring device with a monitoring function life / death management table. When it is turned off, it can be used as a processing device. Normally, it can be used as a processing device, and it can be used as a monitoring device only when other monitoring devices have failed.

The above features and other features of the present invention will be further clarified by the following description.

[0020]

According to the first feature, by providing the receiving means, the display means, or the display window of the monitoring device for each monitoring target, it is possible to monitor the monitoring information of a plurality of processing devices in real time without delay. it can.

According to the second feature, the monitoring information important for system operation, such as the OS failure information of the monitoring target processing device, is centrally displayed in one window on the monitoring device screen to display a plurality of processing devices. The abnormality of can be detected immediately.

According to the third feature, by providing the monitoring requesting means in the monitoring device and the transmission start instructing means in the processing device, the order in which the monitoring device and the processing device connected to the network are ordered Even if it starts up, the monitoring function will start in synchronization with the start-up.

According to the fourth feature, by adopting an online detachable device as the monitoring device, the system is stopped for processing such as device replacement when the monitoring device fails and device addition when the system configuration is changed. Can be done without

According to the fifth feature, by providing the monitoring information transmitting means of the processing device for each monitoring device, the processing device can be simultaneously monitored by a plurality of monitoring devices on the network.

According to the sixth feature, by providing the monitoring target registration table and its rewriting means in the monitoring device, it is possible to share and monitor the range of the processing devices monitored by the plurality of monitoring devices.

According to the seventh feature, the monitoring device is provided with a self-monitoring means similar to the processing device and a means for transmitting the monitoring result, so that the plurality of monitoring devices mutually monitor and promptly detect a failure of the monitoring device. Can respond.

According to the eighth feature, by providing a monitoring function life / death management table in the monitoring device, the monitoring function of the monitoring device is turned on / off as necessary, and the backup monitoring device is normally processed by a general process. The usage efficiency of the device can be increased by using the device as a device.

As described above, the present invention realizes highly efficient, highly reliable and flexible monitoring in a so-called distributed system in which a plurality of processing devices function independently. Further, the present invention is particularly effective when the network is geographically wide, when the number of processing devices to be monitored is large, and when the geographical range and the number of processing devices are expanded year by year.

[0029]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below. To make it easier to understand, the explanation is divided into the following items.

1. Overview of monitoring method 2. Monitoring start procedure 3. Acquisition of monitoring information 4. 4. Communication method of monitoring information Display format of monitoring information 6. 6. Monitoring method using a plurality of monitoring devices 7. Processor with monitoring function Replacement / addition of monitoring device 1. Overview of Monitoring Method FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the information processing system in this embodiment.

The information processing system shown in FIG. 1 connects a plurality of processing devices 4-1 and 4-2 that perform online work, a monitoring device 2 that monitors the processing devices, and the processing devices and the monitoring devices. Communication means 3 (for example, FDDI) for
Display device 1 for displaying the monitoring results collected by the monitoring device
(For example, a CRT display device).

The configurations of the processing devices 4-1 and 4-2 are the same, and therefore the description will be given of the processing device 4-1. Further, although there are a plurality of important item transmitting means and self-monitoring result transmitting means of the processing device in FIG. 1, these will be described in the section “6. Monitoring method by a plurality of monitoring devices” described later. Therefore, in this section, there will be only one each. In the explanation, important item transmitting means 6-1-1 and self-monitoring result transmitting means 7-1-
1 is used.

In addition to the configuration as a normal processing device, the processing device 4-1 monitors the state of the processing device 4-1 itself and passes the obtained monitoring information to the transmitting means 5-1.
, Important item transmitting means 6-1-1 for transmitting only important monitoring information that should not be overlooked, and self-monitoring result transmitting means 7-1 for transmitting all monitoring information including important monitoring information. -1 has three types of components. The monitoring information referred to here is information that represents a system status such as a processing status of a processing device such as a computer, a failure message, a job status, and a network (line) status. Further, the important monitoring information is information such as a message notifying an OS failure or a hardware failure, which may cause the entire system or a part of the function of the system to stop by overlooking it. The self-monitoring means 5-determines whether the monitoring information is important.
If the monitoring information is important, the judgment result is passed to both the important item transmitting means and the self-monitoring result transmitting means, and if it is not important, it is passed only to the self-monitoring result transmitting means. Each transmitting unit transmits the monitoring information passed from the self-monitoring unit to the monitoring device 2. The transmission method will be described in detail in the section “4. Monitoring information communication method”.

The monitoring device 2 includes important item reception / collection means 13 for receiving the monitoring information transmitted from the important item transmitting means 6-1-1 and 6-2-1 of the processing devices 4-1 and 4-2, Self-monitoring result transmitting means 7-1-1 and 7-2 of the processing device
-1 monitoring result receiving means 14-1 and 14-2 for receiving monitoring information transmitted from -1 and monitoring items collected by the important item receiving / collecting means are output to the display device 1 and displayed. Display means 12 and monitoring object-specific monitoring result display means 1 for outputting the monitoring information received by the monitoring object-specific monitoring result receiving means on the display device 1.
It has four types of constituent elements 5-1 and 15-2. At this time,
The monitoring information transmitted from the important item transmitting means 6-1-1 of the processing device 4-1 and the monitoring information transmitted from the important item transmitting means 6-2-1 of the processing device 4-2 are both monitoring devices. 2 is received by the important item reception / collection means 13 and the important item display means 12 displays the important item display Wi on the display device 1.
It is output as displayed on ndow17. Further, the monitoring information transmitted from the self-monitoring result transmitting unit 7-1-1 of the processing device 4-1 is received by the monitoring target-specific monitoring result receiving unit 14-1 of the monitoring device 2, and the monitoring target-specific monitoring result display unit. 15-1 Monitoring result display window (processing device 1)
18-1 and the monitoring information transmitted from the self-monitoring result transmitting means 7-2-1 of the processing device 4-2 is the monitoring device 2.
It is received by the monitoring target-specific monitoring result receiving means 14-2, and is displayed on the monitoring result display window (processing device 2) 18-2 by the monitoring target-specific monitoring result display means 15-2.
The monitoring target-specific monitoring result receiving means, the monitoring target-specific monitoring result display means, and the monitoring result display window are created in the same number as the number of processing devices to be monitored. In this way, by having the receiving means, the display means, and the display window independently for each monitoring target, a large amount of monitoring information from one processing device as in the case where the monitoring device has only one of these elements. It is possible to prevent the above-mentioned three means from being occupied for the reception display of (3), and to prevent the reception delay and the reception omission of the monitoring information from other processing devices.

In addition to the monitoring result display window and the important item display window, the display device 1 has an interactive operation Wi for each monitoring target.
It has ndow 16-1 and 16-2. The operator monitors each processing device, and when it is determined that an operation for the processing device is necessary, from the monitoring target interactive operation window,
Operations can be performed on the processing unit.
Further, the display device has a menu 19 (may be an icon menu as shown in the figure) for performing operations such as opening and closing instructions of these windows.

With the above configuration and procedure, a plurality of processing devices can be efficiently monitored by one monitoring device.

2. Monitoring Start Procedure Next, the monitoring start procedure will be described. The present invention is characterized in that the monitoring is started regardless of the order of starting up the processing device and the monitoring device. That is, when the processing device is started up first, monitoring is started when the monitoring device is started up, and when the monitoring device is started up first, monitoring is started when the processing device is started up. Even when a part of the plurality of processing devices rises before the monitoring device and the rest rises after the monitoring device, the former starts monitoring at the time of starting the monitoring device, and the latter starts monitoring at the time of starting the processing device. The operator does not need to give any particular instruction regarding the start of monitoring, and monitoring is started in synchronization with the startup of the processing device and the monitoring device. As a matter of course, it is possible to start the operation according to the instruction of the operator without interlocking with the startup, but here, the case of interlocking with the startup will be described.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the processing device and the monitoring device can start monitoring without storing the address of each other. This can be realized by so-called broadcasting, in which packets are transmitted to all processing devices (including monitoring devices) connected to the network. That is, one needs to send its own address to all the processing devices, and the other needs to return a response to the address, so that it is not necessary to store the addresses in each other. Pre-storing each other's address not only requires a great amount of work when the number of processing devices is large, but also requires a great deal of change work when the addresses are changed. In this embodiment, there is no such burden.

First, the outline of the starting method will be described with reference to FIG. The processor 4-1 is used for the description of the processor as in the section "1. Overview of monitoring method". The processing device 4-1 has a transmission start instruction means 8-1. This is an important item transmitting means 6-1-1 which is a component of the processing device.
And an instruction to start transmission to the self-monitoring result transmission means 7-1-1. On the other hand, the monitoring device 2 has a monitoring request means 11. This gives an instruction to start reception to the important item reception / collection means 13 and the monitoring object-based monitoring result reception means 14-1 and 14-2, which are components of the monitoring device. By performing communication between the transmission start instruction means and the monitoring request means, the above-described start of monitoring irrelevant to the startup order is realized.

Before describing the details of the transmission start means and the monitoring request means, a method of activating each means will be described. All the functions of the present invention are based on the network function. Therefore, when the transmission start means and the monitoring request means are activated in conjunction with the activation of the processing device and the monitoring device, it is necessary to activate them after the network function becomes available.

FIG. 2 shows the processing when starting up the processing apparatus and the monitoring apparatus in this embodiment. The processing is the same in the processing device and the monitoring device. When the device is turned on (20
-1), First, initialization processing of hardware and OS is performed (20-2, 20-3). The network function is also initialized at this point (20-4).
Therefore, the activation of the transmission start means or the monitoring request means is performed by the process 20.
It is performed after -4 (20-5).

In FIG. 3, the processing of the transmission start instruction means 8-1 will be described in detail. Process 21 shows the process of the transmission starting means. As described above, this process starts in synchronization with the start-up of the processing device. The transmission start means of the processing device first broadcasts a packet notifying that the processing device has started up on the network (21-
1). Then, it waits for a packet to be sent from the monitoring device (21-2). If the monitoring device has already started up, a packet is sent from the monitoring device immediately in response to the broadcast packet. If the monitoring device is not up yet, wait as it is. In this case, a broadcast packet is sent from the monitoring device when the monitoring device starts up. In any case, when the packet from the monitoring device is received (21-3),
An instruction is issued to the important item transmitting means and the self-monitoring result transmitting means to start transmitting the monitoring information to the monitoring device (21-4). After that, the process returns to the process 21-2.
The same process is repeated. This is because there are a plurality of monitoring devices. (A plurality of monitoring devices will be described in the section "6. Monitoring method by a plurality of monitoring devices.")
Now, the processing of the monitoring request means 11 will be described in detail. Process 22 is a process of the monitoring request means. As described above, this process starts in synchronization with the startup of the monitoring device. The monitoring request means of the monitoring device first issues a reception start instruction to the important item reception / collection means and the monitoring target-based monitoring result reception means (22-1). At this stage, since the processing device side has not yet transmitted the monitoring information, the receiving means is activated, but the information is not received. This is to prevent the reception omission by always activating the reception means before the transmission means. Next, a packet notifying that the monitoring device has started up is broadcast on the network (22-2). If the processing device is up, it receives this packet, recognizes the address of the monitoring device, and sends the monitoring information. The receiving means processes 22-
1 has been started. The monitoring request unit thereafter waits for reception of a packet from the processing device regardless of whether or not the monitoring information is transmitted from the processing device (22-3). This is because the processing device started up after the monitoring device receives the broadcast packet transmitted at the time of startup.
When these packets are received (22-4), the address of the monitoring device itself is returned as a response (22-5). And it returns to processing 22-3. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the processing device side starts transmitting the monitoring information to this monitoring device.

With the above procedure, it is possible to start monitoring regardless of the order in which the processing device and the monitoring device are started up and without the processing device and the monitoring device storing their addresses. 3. Acquisition of Monitoring Information Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a process until the self-monitoring unit of the processing device acquires the monitoring information and transfers it to the transmitting unit will be described. The self-monitoring means 5-1 of the processor is the program 5-1-3.
And a self-monitoring result acquisition function 5-1-1 and an important item acquisition function 5-1-2. Program 5-1-3 is OS
And user programs. The self-monitoring result acquisition function passes the monitoring information acquired during the execution of the program to the self-monitoring result transmitting means 7-1. Similarly, the important item acquisition function passes the acquired monitoring information to the important item transmitting means 6-1. The two monitoring information acquisition means are, for example, functions, and the program can send the monitoring information to the monitoring device by calling the functions.
That is, when the monitoring information is an important item, two functions of the important item acquisition function and the self-monitoring result acquisition function are called, and when the monitoring information is other than that, only the function of the self-monitoring result acquisition function is called. By providing two types of monitoring information acquisition functions as functions in this way, it is possible to easily pass the monitoring information to the transmission means by class when creating a program. In this embodiment, the classification is classified into all monitoring information and important monitoring information, but it goes without saying that classification can be performed according to other criteria.

4. Communication Method of Monitoring Information Next, in the processing device, the monitoring information acquired as described in “3. Acquisition of monitoring information” is transmitted by the transmitting means and then received by the receiving means of the monitoring device. The communication method up to this point will be described.

FIG. 6 shows a data format when transmitting the monitoring information. The monitoring information data 23 includes at least three types of information, a monitoring device identifier 23-1, a processing device identifier 23-2, and a receiving means identifier 23-3, in addition to the monitoring information 23-5. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the monitoring information byte number 23-4 may be included. In this embodiment, TCP / IP is used as the communication protocol, but if this is taken as an example, the monitoring device identifier 23-1 is the destination network address, the processing device identifier 23-2 is its own network address, and the receiving means identifier. 23-3 corresponds to a service port number. The format is the same for both important items and self-monitoring results.

Next, the method of transmitting and receiving this monitoring information packet will be described with reference to FIG. For the description of the processing device, the processing device 4 is used in the same manner as described in the section “1.
-1 is used.

First, the transmission / reception system of important items will be described. The important item transmitting means 6-1 of the processing device 4-1 uses the acquired monitoring information as the monitoring device identifier to monitor the monitoring device 2.
, And the port number of the important item reception / collection means 13 of the monitoring device 2 as the reception means identifier,
The address of the processing device 4-1 itself is designated as the processing device identifier and transmitted as the important item data 24-1. The important item reception / collection means of the monitoring device judges that the data is addressed to itself based on the monitoring device identifier and the receiving device identifier of the important item packet, and receives the data. The important item reception / collection means 13 has a reception buffer 27-1 and a monitoring information editing means 26-1. The reception buffer 2
7-1 is provided, the received packet is temporarily stored, and then the editing process is performed, so that the processing device 4-1 and the processing device 4 are provided.
Even if the monitoring information data of -2 is received at the same time, the possibility of omission is reduced. Monitoring information editing means 26-1
Extracts important item packets from the receive buffer,
Edit the monitoring information. Editing the monitoring information means, for example, adding a time stamp, comparing whether or not it matches a pre-specified pattern, and passing only those that match (filtering) to the display means, processing, categorizing, and selecting the monitoring information. Means processing such as. Logging monitoring information is one of these edits. When the editing is completed, the monitoring information editing means transfers the edited monitoring information to the important item display means 12.

Next, the transmission / reception system of the self-monitoring result will be described. Self-monitoring result transmitting means 7-1 of processing device 4-1
Specifies the address of the monitoring device 2 as the monitoring device identifier and the port number of the monitoring result receiving means 14-1 for each monitoring target of the monitoring device 2 as the receiving means identifier in the acquired monitoring information, and sets the self-monitoring result data. 25-1. The self-monitoring result data is received by the monitoring target-based monitoring result receiving means 14-1 of the monitoring device 2 and stored in the temporary reception buffer 27-2. After that, it is edited by the monitoring information editing means 26-2 and passed to the monitoring result display means 15-1 for each monitoring target.

The important item reception / collection means 13 and the monitoring result-based monitoring result receiving means 14-1 are, in addition to the above processing,
A process of notifying the processing device 4-1 that is the transmission source of the monitoring information that the monitoring information has been received is performed. This is to improve the reliability of communication.

In FIG. 8, the two receiving means 13, 14-
1 shows the common processing. First, a packet is taken out from the reception buffer (28-1-1), and then a reception response is returned to the processing device (28-1-2). Process 28-1-1 and process 28-1-2 may be reversed. In the present embodiment, since this reception response process is performed by TCP / IP, process 28-1-2 is first. After that, additional information such as an address is removed from the received packet, and only the monitoring information is extracted (28-1-3). After performing the editing process (2
8-1-4), and sends monitoring information to the display means (28-1-
5).

5. Display Format of Monitoring Information Next, the display format of the monitoring information will be described in detail. In this embodiment, a workstation is used as the monitor and display device. The display device may be any device capable of displaying a plurality of windows.

The outline of the display format will be described again with reference to FIG. The display is an important item display window 1 that displays important items.
7, monitoring result display windows 18-1 and 18-2 for displaying all information including the important items, and interactive operation for each monitoring object for operating the monitoring target processing device
Windows 16-1 and 16-2 and the important item display window
And the monitoring result display window and the menu 19 for instructing to open and iconify the interactive operation window. Each window will be described in detail below.

<Important Item Display Window> FIG. 9 shows the display format of the important item window 17 in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the important items are defined as the formats 17-1 and 17-2. Of the items described below, the time and the processing device name are edited by the monitoring information editing means of the important item reception / collection means of the monitoring device (see FIG. 7),
Other than that, the data is the same as that acquired by the important item acquisition means of the self-monitoring means of the processing device (see FIG. 5). (1) Time 17-1-1 Time when the monitoring information is received.

(2) Processing device name 17-1-2 Name of the processing device that is the transmission source of the monitoring information. It is used for distinguishing because the monitoring information of multiple processing devices are mixed in one window.

(3) Code 17-1-3 In this embodiment, a code is assigned to an important item. The code can identify the content of the item.

(4) Importance flag 17-1-4 In the present embodiment, the important items are further classified according to the importance (for example, that they are related to the whole system or part of the system). The flag is provided so that the importance level can be seen at a glance.

(5) Type 17-1-5 Indicates which part the monitoring information relates to. For example, the distinction between hardware and OS.

(6) Program name 17-1-6 Monitoring information is created, that is, important item acquisition means (see FIG. 5).
The name of the program that called

(7) Content 17-1-7 Monitoring information details.

Since the important item display window 17 is a window for displaying monitoring information important for the system, it must be in an open state when the monitoring information is received. Therefore, if the operator instructs the iconization,
Even if ndow is in the icon state, it automatically opens when the monitoring information is received. This is because when the monitoring information is passed from the important item reception / collection means 13 of FIG. 1 to the important item display means 12, the important item display means is linked with the display.
It is realized by opening the Window. In addition to this, as an example of interlocking the receiving means and the display means in this way, when the monitoring information of the highest importance is received after further sorting by the importance flag, the background color of the window is a prominent color such as red. Processing such as changing to

<Monitoring Result Display Window> FIG. 10 shows the display format of the monitoring result display window in this embodiment. Since one monitoring result display window 18-1 is provided for each processing device, the processing device name is displayed as the title 18-1-1. In this embodiment, the format of the monitoring information is not specified, and the monitoring information 18-created by each program of the processing device is used.
1-2 is displayed as it is.

As with the important item display window, the monitoring result display window can be opened and made into an icon in association with the reception. However, if the number of windows is large, it may be difficult to see, so it is not linked with reception. It is also possible to set so that the icon is opened and iconized only by the instruction of the operator.

<Interactive Window for Each Monitoring Object> FIG. 11 shows the display format of the interactive window for each monitoring object 16-1. One interactive window for each monitoring target is provided for each processing device, and the processing device name is displayed as a title (16-1-1). Since the operation is performed from the keyboard, the operation is not performed on a plurality of processing devices at the same time. Therefore, even one interactive operation window is sufficient as a function. In order to save the trouble of accessing, the window is set for each processing device, and it is possible to immediately log in to the processing device. In this example, telnet
Command is used. If there is no security problem, you can use the rlogin command to save the trouble of logging in.

<Menu> FIG. 12 shows the contents of the menu 19. This menu is provided for the purpose of improving the operation efficiency of the plurality of windows. Menu title 19-1
Is displayed and open instructions for each window 19-2 to 19-5
In addition to (or may be an iconization instruction), it is possible to add a process created by the user to the menu according to the user's setting (19-6).

6. Monitoring method by a plurality of monitoring devices An embodiment of a system in which a plurality of monitoring devices described in "1. Overview of monitoring method" to "5. Display format of monitoring information" are installed will be described.

First, the features of the monitoring device will be described with reference to FIG. When a plurality of monitoring devices 2-1 are installed, the important item transmitting means 6-1-1 of the processing device 4-1.
And 6-1-2 and self-monitoring result transmitting means 7-1-1 and 7
-1-2 is provided for each monitoring device. The important item transmitting means 6-1-1 and 6-1-2 are all the same except that the address designated as the monitoring device identifier at the time of packet transmission is different. In such a system in which a plurality of monitoring devices are installed, the following embodiments (1) to (4) can be considered. The configuration of the monitoring device of this example has the same basic configuration as that shown in FIG. 1, and is an example using two identical monitoring devices 2-1 as shown in FIG.

(1) Parallel monitoring system The system is monitored simultaneously at a plurality of different bases. This can be realized by providing a plurality of transmitting means as described above. For example, by simultaneously monitoring with the monitoring device installed in the system management unit and the monitoring device installed in the system development unit, it is possible to quickly deal with an abnormality.

(2) Sharing of monitoring range FIG. 14 shows an example in which a plurality of monitoring devices share the monitoring range. Monitoring devices 2-1, 2-2, display devices 1-1, 1-2, processing devices 4-1, 4-2, 4-3.
In the system including 4-4, 4-5, 4-6 and the communication means 3, the monitoring target registration tables 10-1 and 10-2 are newly added to the two monitoring devices. For example,
The processing devices 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 are registered as monitoring targets in the monitoring target registration table 10-1, and the processing devices 4-4 and 4-4 are registered as monitoring targets in the monitoring target registration table 10-2.
Register 4-5 and 4-6. At the start of monitoring (see the section of “2. Monitoring start procedure”), the monitoring device 2-1
When a broadcast packet from the processing device 4-1, 4-2, 4-3 is received, a response is returned, but 4-4, 4
No response is returned for the packets from -5 and 4-6. Similarly, the monitoring device 2-2 also has the monitoring target registration table 10
It does not respond to packets from processing devices that are not registered in -2. If the processor is not responding to the monitor,
Do not send monitoring information. Therefore, the processing devices 4-1 and 4
-2, 4-3 transmits the monitoring information only to the monitoring device 2-1, and the processing devices 4-4, 4-5, 4-6 the monitoring device 2
-2 sends the monitoring information only. In this way, the two monitoring devices can share the monitoring range.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring target registration table 10 can be rewritten by the monitoring target registration table rewriting means 9 which rewrites the monitoring target registration table online. When the table is rewritten online, the rewriting means notifies the transmission start instructing means to issue another start instruction, so that the new table contents are immediately reflected. Further, in this embodiment,
If nothing is registered in the monitoring target registration table, all processing devices are monitored without limiting the monitoring range.

(3) Mutual monitoring between monitoring devices will be described again with reference to FIG. In a system in which a plurality of monitoring devices are installed, the monitoring device 2 is newly provided with a self-monitoring unit 5-3, a self-monitoring result transmission unit 7-3, and a transmission start instruction unit 8-3. These three means are exactly the same as the means of the same name that the processing device 4-1 has.
Therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the case of a system in which a plurality of monitoring devices are installed, mutual monitoring between the monitoring devices can be realized by adding the above-mentioned 3 means. That is, the monitoring information of the monitoring device itself can be monitored by another monitoring device. Therefore, it is possible to quickly respond to the occurrence of an abnormality in the monitoring device. Even if mutual monitoring is performed, as described above, the function equivalent to that of the processing device is simply added to the monitoring device, and therefore the monitoring device does not know the address of the monitoring device that is monitoring itself. Therefore, unlike mutual monitoring of multi-computers, it is possible to easily change devices.

As a countermeasure when an abnormality occurs, the monitoring range can be taken over. When an abnormality occurs in one monitoring device, it is necessary to switch the monitoring range so that the processing device monitored by that monitoring device is monitored by another monitoring device. This processing may be performed manually by an operator, such as rewriting the monitoring target registration table, but it is also possible to add processing for automatically rewriting the abnormality detection table.

(4) Inheritance of Monitoring Range With reference to FIG. 14, in a system in which a plurality of monitoring devices are installed, a handover process will be described when an abnormality occurs in one monitoring device.

In FIG. 14, the monitoring device 2-1 monitors the processing devices 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3, and the monitoring device 2-2 monitors the processing devices 4-4, 4-5 and 4-6. is doing. The monitoring device 2-1 and the monitoring device 2-2 mutually monitor each other as described in (3). When an abnormality occurs in the monitoring device 2-1, the processing devices 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 do not return a confirmation response to the monitoring information.
When the abnormality occurs in -1, the transmission of the monitoring information is stopped. After stopping the transmission of the monitoring information, the three processing devices transmit the broadcast packet again and wait for a response from the monitoring device. At this time, the monitoring device 2-2 detects an abnormality in the monitoring device 2-1, and the monitoring target registration table 10
Erase the contents of -2. The monitoring device of this embodiment does not limit the monitoring range when nothing is registered in the monitoring target registration table. That is, when the monitoring device 2-2 receives the broadcast packet from the processing devices 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, it sends back a response to it. Based on this response, the processing devices 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 specify the monitoring device 2-2 as a new destination, and start transmitting the monitoring information. As described above, the transfer of the monitoring range is completed.

7. Processing Device with Monitoring Function In the above embodiments, the monitoring device and the processing device are described as different devices, but in the following embodiments, the processing device is turned on.
A case in which a monitoring function that can be switched on / off is added will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 15 shows the monitoring device 2 and the display device 1-1.
And a processing device 4-1 to 4-n, a display device 1-3 connected to the processing device 4-1, and a communication unit 3. Monitoring device 2 and processing device 4-2.
4-n is the same as that described in the section of “6. Monitoring method by a plurality of monitoring devices”, and description thereof will be omitted. The processing device 4-1 has a monitoring function in addition to the function of the processing device.

FIG. 16 shows the details of the processing device 4-1.
In addition to the functions of the other processing devices, the processing device includes an important item reception / collection unit 13, an important item display unit 12, a monitoring target-specific monitoring result receiving unit 14, a monitoring target-specific monitoring result display unit 15, and a monitoring target registration table. It has a rewriting unit 9, a monitoring target registration table 10, a monitoring requesting unit 11, and a monitoring device life and death management table 29. The monitoring device life / death management table 29 has a monitoring function ON / OFF flag. When the monitoring function is turned on, the processing device 4-1 functions as a monitoring device and displays the monitoring information on the display device 1-3.
In the case of F, the processing is the same as that of the other processing device. As a result, the number of monitoring devices is one, and when the monitoring device fails, the processing device 4-1 can be used as a temporary monitoring device by turning on the monitoring function ON / OFF flag of the monitoring device live / dead management table 29. .

Further, like the display device 1-4 shown in FIG. 15, the monitoring information from the n processing devices 4-1 to 4-n collected by the monitoring device 2 is displayed via the communication means. Alternatively, the monitoring information from the processing device 1 (4-1) having a built-in monitoring means may be displayed.

FIG. 17 shows the processing at the time of starting up the processing device with the monitoring device. Process 22 is the monitoring request means 1
The processing in 1 is shown. As in the case of the normal monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. 4, the monitoring requesting means 11 first issues an instruction to each receiving means to start reception when it is activated (process 22-).
1). Here, the reason why the reception process is performed regardless of whether the monitoring function is ON or OFF is to start monitoring immediately when the monitoring function is switched from OFF to ON. Next, as shown in processing 22-6, the life / death management table 29
If the life and death management flag is ON, process 22-2
Broadcast. If OFF, process 22
-2 is not broadcast. After this, the monitoring request means 11 waits for a packet from the processing device (process 22).
-3), when the packet is received (process 22-4), the life-and-death management flag is checked (process 22-7), and the life-and-death management flag is set to O.
If N, the self-address is returned to the processing device of the packet transmission source (process 22-5), but the life-and-death management flag is set to O.
If it is FF, it does not return its own address.

As described above, the processing when the flag is ON is the same as that of the normal monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. 4, and the processing when the flag is OFF does not make a monitoring request to the processing apparatus. .

FIG. 18 shows the processing in the important item reception / collection means 13 and the monitoring object-specific monitoring result reception means 14-1, 14-2, which has started the reception by the processing 22-1 in FIG. The reception processing is common to the important item reception / collection means 13 and the monitoring result-based monitoring result reception means 14-1 and 14-2. Each receiving means waits for the monitoring result (process 30-1) and receives the monitoring result (process 30-).
2) and look at the life and death management flag (process 30-3). If the flag is ON, the received monitoring result is passed to the display means (process 30-4). If the flag is OFF, the received monitoring result is received. Is discarded without passing it to the display means.

8. Replacement / addition of monitoring device “1. Overview of monitoring method” to “7. Processing device with monitoring function”
An embodiment will be described in which a device that is detachable online is used as the monitoring device described in the above section. Being attachable to and detachable from the network online means satisfying the following two conditions.

(B) When the processing device is physically connected to the online network, the online work should not be affected.

(B) A communication control device and network system information can be constructed online.

As described in the section "2. Monitoring start procedure", in this embodiment, since monitoring can be started regardless of the start-up order of the processing device and the monitoring device, the monitoring device can be attached / detached online. For example, adopting a workstation means that it is possible to change the monitoring function online.

When it is desired to replace the faulty monitoring device, the workstation, which is the monitoring device, is disconnected from the network, the function as the monitoring device is installed in the new workstation (for example, the software is installed), and then the network is connected to the network. As described in the section “2. Monitoring start procedure”, the monitoring of the processing devices on the network is started in conjunction with the power-on. When adding a monitoring device, it can be easily added in the same manner.

Each of the above means can be configured as a program, but in some cases, can also be configured by readware having the same function. Further, the monitoring information is visually displayed on the display device, but depending on the importance of the information, it is possible to use a transmission method such as voice or vibration together or independently.

[0087]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, (1) By providing the monitoring information receiving means or the display window for each monitoring target processing device, the monitoring information reception delay can be prevented and the monitoring information can be displayed in real time. (2) The monitoring information can be efficiently monitored by displaying the monitoring information in different windows according to importance.

(3) Monitoring can be started regardless of the order in which the monitoring device and the processing device are started up.

(4) Since the monitoring device and the processing device can start monitoring without storing the address of the other party, the trouble of address registration work and the like can be saved and the system configuration can be easily changed.

(5) By installing a plurality of monitoring devices, it is possible to simultaneously monitor from different bases.

(6) By installing a plurality of monitoring devices, the monitoring range can be shared and the monitoring range can be easily changed.

(7) Mutual monitoring between the monitoring devices enables quick response to abnormalities in the monitoring devices (particularly handing over the monitoring range).

(8) By providing a monitoring function life-and-death management table in the monitoring device, the monitoring function of the monitoring device is turned ON / OFF as necessary, and the backup monitoring device is normally used as a general processing device. Depending on how you use
The use efficiency of the device can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an information processing system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a procedure for starting up the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a monitoring start procedure on the processing device side.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a monitoring start procedure on the monitoring device side.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of self-monitoring means.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of monitoring information data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an outline of a monitoring information communication method.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a procedure for receiving monitoring information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an important item display window display format.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a monitoring result display window display format for each monitoring target.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an interactive operation window display format for each monitoring target.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a window operation menu.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an outline of a monitoring method using a plurality of monitoring devices.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an outline of sharing of a monitoring range by a plurality of monitoring devices.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an outline of backup of a monitoring function by a processing device with a monitoring function.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a processing device with a monitoring function.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of processing at startup of the processing device with a monitoring function.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a reception process in the important item reception / collection means or the monitoring target-based monitoring result reception means.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Display device, 2 ... Monitoring device, 3 ... Communication means, 4 ... Processing device, 5 ... Self monitoring means, 6 ... Important item transmitting means, 7 ...
Self-monitoring result transmitting means, 8 ... Transmission start instruction means, 9 ... Monitoring target registration table rewriting means, 10 ... Monitoring target registration table, 11 ... Monitoring requesting means, 12 ... Important item displaying means,
Reference numeral 13 ... Important item reception and collection means, 14 ... Monitoring target-specific monitoring result receiving means, 15 ... Monitoring target-specific monitoring result display means, 16
... Interactive operation window for each monitoring target, 17 ... Important item display window, 18 ... Monitoring result display window, 19 ...
Menu, 20 ... Device startup processing procedure, 21 ... Processing device side monitoring function start processing procedure, 22 ... Monitoring device side monitoring function start processing procedure, 23 ... Monitoring information data, 24 ... Important item data, 25 ... Self monitoring result data , 26 ... Monitoring information editing means, 27 ... Reception buffer, 28 ... Monitoring information receiving processing procedure, 29 ... Life / death management table.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akifumi Nakahashi 5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Process Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Hideki Sato 5-chome, Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki 2-1 Incorporated company Hitachi, Ltd. Omika factory (72) Inventor Keiichi Sannomiya 5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Process Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Koji Kobayashi Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki 5-21 Omika-cho, Ltd. Inside the Omika Plant, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuma Nakao 5-2-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Fujimoto Hajime 5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Ritsu Process Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsukasa Kobayashi 5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Ltd. Omika factory

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. An information processing system comprising a plurality of processing devices, at least one monitoring device, and communication means for connecting them, wherein the processing device comprises: self-monitoring means for monitoring its own processing state; Self-monitoring result transmitting means for receiving the monitoring result from the self-monitoring means and transmitting the monitoring result to the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device receives the monitoring result transmitted from the plurality of processing devices, monitoring An information processing system, comprising: monitoring target-specific monitoring result receiving means for independently receiving monitoring results for each target processing device. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one display device for displaying an output of the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device receives the monitoring result-based monitoring result receiving means. An information processing system, comprising: monitoring result display means for monitoring objects, which outputs monitoring results to the display device. 3. An information processing system comprising a plurality of processing devices, at least one monitoring device, and communication means for connecting them, wherein the processing device comprises: self-monitoring means for monitoring its own processing state; The monitoring device includes a classifying unit that classifies the monitoring result according to a certain standard, and a self-monitoring result transmitting unit for each classification that receives the monitoring result from the classifying unit and transmits the monitoring result to the monitoring device. An information processing system, comprising: a monitoring result receiving unit for each category that receives the monitoring result output from the self-monitoring result transmitting unit for each category. 4. The information processing system according to claim 3, further comprising at least one display device for displaying the output of said monitoring device, said monitoring device receiving from said monitoring result receiving means for each classification. An information processing system comprising: monitoring result display means for each classification for outputting the monitoring result to the display device. 5. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the importance is used as a criterion for classifying the monitoring results. 6. At least one processing device having a communication means, a transmission means for transmitting information to the communication means, and a transmission instruction means for instructing the transmission means to start transmission, and the communication by the transmission means. In an information processing system comprising a receiving means for receiving the information transmitted to the means and at least one processing device having a reception instructing means for instructing the receiving means to start reception, information transmission / reception is performed in the following procedure. A method of starting transmission / reception, characterized by starting. (A) The reception instructing means instructs the receiving means to start reception, and (b) the transmission instructing means first identifies the transmission means to all the processing devices connected to the communication means. (C) When the reception instruction means receives the transmission means identifier, the reception instruction means can identify the reception means to the transmission instruction means (hereinafter, reception). (D) The transmission instruction means, when receiving the reception means identifier, issues an instruction to the transmission means to start transmission to the reception means. 7. At least one processing device having a communication means, a transmission means for transmitting information to the communication means, and a transmission instruction means for instructing the transmission means to start transmission, and the communication by the transmission means. In an information processing system comprising a receiving means for receiving the information transmitted to the means and at least one processing device having a reception instructing means for instructing the receiving means to start reception, information transmission / reception is performed in the following procedure. A method of starting transmission / reception, characterized by starting. (A) The reception instruction means instructs the reception means to start reception, and then transmits the reception means identifier to all the processing devices connected to the communication means,
(B) When the transmission instruction means receives the reception means identifier, it instructs the transmission means to start transmission. 8. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the processing device includes transmission start instruction means, and the monitoring device includes:
An information processing system having a monitoring requesting means. 9. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the processing device has a plurality of self-monitoring result transmitting means. 10. The information processing system according to claim 9,
A method for monitoring an information processing system, wherein each processing device constituting the information processing system is monitored simultaneously by a plurality of monitoring devices. 11. An information processing system comprising a plurality of processing devices, at least one monitoring device, at least one display device for displaying an output of the monitoring device, and communication means for connecting them, the display device. An information processing system characterized by displaying the following on the display screen of. (A) A window displaying the monitoring result of the processing device,
(B) A window for inputting the operation of the processing device and outputting the result thereof, (c) A window for displaying only important monitoring results output by all the processing devices, (d) The above (a)
~ (C) Window operation menu. 12. A plurality of processing devices, a plurality of monitoring devices,
In the information processing system including a communication unit that connects them, each of the plurality of processing devices receives a monitoring result from the self-monitoring unit that monitors its own processing state, and the monitoring result to the monitoring device. Self-monitoring result transmitting means for transmitting a monitoring result, wherein each of the plurality of monitoring devices receives a monitoring result transmitted from the plurality of processing devices, and monitors its own processing state. An information processing system, comprising: self-monitoring means for performing monitoring; and self-monitoring result transmitting means for receiving a monitoring result from the self-monitoring means and transmitting it to a monitoring device other than itself. 13. The information processing system according to claim 12, further comprising at least one display device for displaying an output of the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device receives the monitoring result-based monitoring result receiving means. An information processing system, comprising: monitoring result display means for monitoring objects, which outputs monitoring results to the display device. 14. The information processing system according to claim 12, wherein each of the monitoring devices is provided with a monitoring target registration table that stores a processing device monitored by the monitoring device, and the monitoring range is shared by the plurality of monitoring devices. A characteristic information processing system. 15. An information processing system monitoring method according to claim 14, wherein the monitoring range of the monitoring device in which the abnormality is detected by the mutual monitoring is taken over by another monitoring device. 16. Self-monitoring means, self-monitoring result transmitting means for transmitting the self-monitoring result from the self-monitoring means to the outside, monitoring result receiving means for receiving the monitoring result from the outside, and the received monitoring result. ON / OFF of monitoring result display means for displaying, monitoring result receiving means and monitoring result display means
And a monitoring function life-and-death management table having management information to enable the processing device. 17. Self-monitoring means, self-monitoring result transmitting means for transmitting the self-monitoring result from the self-monitoring means to the outside, and a plurality of external objects for independently receiving monitoring results from a plurality of external objects. Monitoring result receiving means, monitoring result displaying means for outputting the received monitoring results to an external display device, and one receiving and collecting means for receiving monitoring results from a plurality of external objects that meet a predetermined standard. A monitoring device, comprising: output means for outputting information from the receiving and collecting means to an external display device.